


The Art of Sacrifice Drabbles

by bookworm03



Series: The Art of Sacrifice Universe [2]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-05-21 12:44:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 17,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6052108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm03/pseuds/bookworm03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben is a single father and has been for as long as he's had a child...until he meets Leslie Knope. A collection of drabbles that either didn't make the original fic or take place outside of that timeline. Single Parent AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Firsts: Newborn

**Author's Note:**

> HI! 
> 
> Okay, so I've had a ton of prompts for the Art of Sacrifice universe already so I decided this would be a nice, organized way of filling them. Most of them will be out of order, some will be pre-AoS and some will be post. Ratings will vary chapter to chapter, so send my your prompts and I will slowly make them happen!

“Why’s she crying, though?” Steph groaned and covered her ears. “Oh my god, how have you slept at all? Is she like this every night?” 

Ben rubbed his face and slumped forward, already feeling bad for his mother who was trying her damndest to coax Nat back to sleep. 

“Ben,” Julia Wyatt’s voice echoed softly through the room, cradling his tiny little bundle in her arms. “Can you take her for a minute, I’ll see if she’s hungry again.”

He leapt up, crossing the living room and pulling his shrieking infant (making more noise than he imagined possible) into his arms and shushing her gently. It had been a long two weeks, an unbearably long two weeks, and not for the first time Ben wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

It wasn’t too late, he supposed. He could give her up and let her go to a nice family who would love her and have two parents to support her and were probably very ready for this big change in their lives. It wasn’t too late to think about that, regardless of what he’d decided that first weekend when Henry came…

Silence.

Steph’s eyes bulged and she stood warily. “Did she...choke herself or...something?”

Julia hurried in, bottle in hand and rushed right up to them. She stopped abruptly and leaned over Ben’s shoulder. Nat’s brown eyes had locked on him, long lashes peeled back and little nose crinkling.

“Uh...hey...hi. Hey...you.”

“She’s not hungry, she just wanted Daddy, not Grandma,” Julia touched his back gently and Ben’s heart was instantly in his throat. He gulped it back down as Nat’s little hand stretched up to touch his nose.

“H...hi. Hi baby.”

A clicking noise made Ben look up, Steph tossing a camera onto the couch.

“Shit. She knows you already.” 

Shit, she really did.

Ben kissed her fingers gently and her lips curled upwards just a touch. Julia beamed.

“Of course she knows you already, Benji. You’ve been with her every minute, she feels safe with you.”

Wow, that brought a fresh wave of tears to his eyes. Steph patted his shoulder as Ben moved to a chair and slumped back in it, Nat content in his arms. He kissed her fingers again.

Sweet baby.

His baby.

Shit, yup, he definitely had a baby now. 


	2. DC: Month One

“HIIIIIIIIII!” Nat squealed as soon as the connection clicked and their faces came into view. His chest tightened instantly at the image of her curled up beside Leslie in his bed, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Nat’s hands. They were both in pajamas, but Nat’s hair was damp and she looked fairly close to falling asleep already. 

It was his fault, he’d texted Leslie twenty minutes before their scheduled call because there was a crisis with the press and that Ben needed to handle, delaying story time.

Every night. They did this every night, and it simultaneously got him through to the end of the day and also made him ache uncontrollably. He liked - okay, loved - his job and he missed Leslie, of course, but he was desperate to have Nat with him. It felt like half of his heart was half a day’s drive away.

“Hi Daddy, hi hi hi, I miss you!”

Every night the same thing. The same bright smile and blown kisses and assurances she was okay.

“I miss you too, peanut,” he dragged his thumb across the edge of the screen as if that would somehow make him feel closer to her. In a few weeks, once school let out, Nat would be with him and his DC sublet had a nice (small) bedroom for her.

“And Leslie,” Nat reminded him. Ben laughed softly.

“And Leslie, of course I miss Leslie.”

His girlfriend’s smile was partially obscured by Nat’s hair who was already asking how his day was. He told her a few details as she listened with rapture and then recounted the events of her own day, which included soccer with Shawn and Shawn’s friends after school, waffles for dinner and a documentary with Leslie.

And now, Harry Potter.

“Okay,” Nat clapped her hands once they’d caught up. “Shall we get started?”

“Yup,” Ben settled back on his couch and toed off his socks, flexing his feet.

“Okay,” Nat cleared her throat, leaning back against Leslie. “Chapter Eight: The Potions Master.”

About five pages in Leslie took over.

Six pages after that, Nat was fast asleep against her chest.

“How thrilled are they with you?” She asked quietly as she put the book to the side. Ben chuckled and shrugged, taking in the way Leslie's fingers carded through Nat's hair and the soft look on her face. 

“There’s a learning curve but it’s going well, I think. Jen seems...as happy as Jen ever seems.”

“Uh huh,” she grinned through the screen and his stomach twisted. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks honey,” he cuddled into his pillow. “I miss you guys.”

“We miss you,” she hesitated but her eyes flicked mischievously. “How tired are you?” 

Ben groaned, dick stirring with interest at the very notion. “Not too tired for  _ that _ .”

Leslie laughed and rolled Nat gently onto his pillow, grabbing the laptop, making her way to another room and closing the door with a soft click.

“Alright Wyatt, unzip your pants and let’s do this.” 


	3. Firsts: SyFy Debate

“So, I mean, I know everyone loves Starbuck and that Starbuck is a woman and yeah, I think that’s great,” he gestured aggressively at the air, Nat sitting comfortably on his lap and a beer on the coffee table. “She’s great, she’s obviously a great pilot, but sometimes I just...something about her just doesn’t click for me. And I don’t know, I think as far as strong female characters go, Roslin’s the better one. And I know, I know, it’s not the same as say,” her little hand curled around his finger, big brown eyes turned up at him. 

“I’m sure you’ll have your own opinions once you can…”

Ben trailed off.

Holy shit, she was holding his finger.

“When...hey, when did you learn to do that?”

Nat made a little face, tongue poking out and squeezing tighter. Ben gulped.

“You’re holding my finger.”

She smiled and Ben did too. That was new, but not  _ as  _ new.  _ Everything _ was pretty new still.

“You just want me to stop getting so worked up about Battlestar,” he peppered little kisses all over her face. “Look, there’s not much to do in Pawnee on a Friday night, Nat. We gotta get excited about what we can.”

Ben kissed her again noisily until she sighed.

“I love you. Give me some warning next time you’re gonna do something. I gotta get my camera.”

Her nose crinkled and he pushed his face closer and inhaled the smell of her skin.

“Uncle Henry’s on a date tonight, but my date’s way better. Don’t you think? Pretty girl  _ and _ Battlestar?”

She pulled another face and Ben grinned and kissed her nose.

“We’ll watch Star Trek after this is over, okay? I’ll tell you why you’d rather have Jean Luc Picard at the helm of the Enterprise.”


	4. Firsts: Steps

“I never do this on a first date, I swear,” Holly panted with a laugh as Ben’s fingers worked the top half of her dress down. His eyes rolled back in his head and his dick was straining so badly he whimpered when he saw his date was braless.

“They’re small, but at least no bra - ” she squealed with a laugh when he growled and yanked her forward, sealing his mouth over a nipple and flicking his tongue. He usually explored more, but fuck, he was worked up. It had been a while.

“Oh Christ,” she threw her head back and Ben’s fingers dug into her as he worked her over and then switched to the other breast.

“Fuck, yes, just like that, baby,” Holly ground down on his cock and they both groaned. “Take me to bed, take me to bed.”

Whoa, fuck, okay, yep, he could do that.

It was a mess of limbs and clothes to get to the bed, and before he could question it he was on his back, pants open, and his date was licking his balls wearing nothing but a thong like some amateur porno.

Fuck, he was...he was so close already, detonation seemed inevitable.

“God, you have a nice dick,” she murmured before suckling the tip and sliding her hand over him vigorously. “I can’t wait to ride it.”

Good lord, they were starting fast with the dirty talk. This _was_ an amateur porno.

It was when she was in the bathroom, getting a condom from the box she shared with her roommate (okay?) that he heard his phone ringing. He took a few cleansing breaths and stood to find it.

_Don’t be the sitter, don’t be the -_

Fuck, it was the sitter.

He heard her wailing - _wailing_ \- as soon as he answered it. Ben’s stomach dropped.

“Ben? It’s...I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She won’t sleep, she didn’t want her bottle, I don’t know if she’s sick or…She just keeps saying NO NO NO and crying and...I’m so sorry to bother you, I just didn’t know what to do.”

Ben rubbed his forehead as his date returned and started kissing his neck and opening the condom. He held up a hand. Goddammit, he was _so close._

“Alright, alright, I’ll...I’m coming home right now.”

“I’m _so sorry,_ Ben.”

“It’s fine,” he hung up and turned to Holly apologetically. She feigned sympathy but it was just that, feigned, while she tacitly reminded him she’d been sucking his dick a few minutes before. It was less than ten minutes later he was back in his car and driving to his apartment.

“NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!” the shrieking was still happening when Ben walked in the door. Lauren, the babysitter, looked completely horrified as Nat squirmed and struggled in her arms and Ben winced. She’d never been like this. What if she had rabies from a raccoon or something? Stupid Pawnee.

“Theeeere’s Daddy,”  Lauren cooed. “There he is, come to see you after his date. Caaaalm down - ”

Lauren set Nat on her feet and Nat teetered as Ben crossed the room towards her.

And then she was off.

Not walking, no no, why learn to take a few precarious steps like the baby books talked about when you could start off running? She tore through the hallway, hands flailing and tripping just as Ben dropped to his knees and caught her. What the hell? She was just figuring out how to move herself around the coffee table the night before.

“Hey, whoa, heeeeey, you’re walking, peanut.”

Lauren blinked. “She...she didn’t do anything like that all night. I would’ve videotaped it if she had! Oh my gosh, Natty you’re waaaaalking.”

Ben wound his arms around his daughter and kissed all over her face, blue balls definitely the last thing on his mind now.

“Did you wait to show me that?”

Nat giggled and palmed his cheeks. “Dada, dada, dada,” she singsonged. “Hi.”

“Hi,” fuck, his eyes were flooding with tears. “Hey you, hey.”

He pressed his lips to every inch of her flushed skin he could reach. “You’re walking.”

“Ya,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Ya, Dada.”

“And running.”

“Ya,” she babbled more and wound her arms around his neck. “Up.”

“She speaks _so_ well,” Lauren declared proudly. “You must talk to her all the time. I know almost-two year olds who can’t string as many words together as she does.”

He did. His home life was a running narration of what he was doing and why he was doing it and his thoughts on syfy culture. Ben kissed her forehead and she grinned, happy now. Happy he was home.

Fuck, okay, so he’d jerk off in the shower after he put her down and probably never get another date for the rest of his life. It was worth it for the way she looked at him.


	5. DC: Vacation

She could already feel his dick stirring with interest as Leslie slid her tongue passed his lips, tasting the champagne from a few minutes before and arching into him. 

“Mhm, don’t start something you can’t finish Councilwoman.”

Leslie grinned and kissed him harder, grinding down and swallowing his moan just as the curtain snapped back. They both froze, tongues retracting slowly as the kiss broke. Leslie moved to roll off him, but there was definitely  _ something  _ happening down there and staying put was probably safer, so Ben latched on and shot her a look.

“Hi Nat.”

“THERE’S NO DOOR HERE SO I CAN’T KNOCK, BUT YOU HAVE TO SEE THE VIDEO OF THE WATERSLIDE!”

It was Ben’s idea for a family vacation. Nat had been so easy-going with the insanity of the last few months, including spending her birthday at a City Council debate, that he’d talked to a few people in DC and they’d both taken a long weekend for a  _ Disney Cruise _ .

Which, as it turned out, was an amazing idea for a number of reasons.

First of all, Nat was already beside herself with the age-group activities and had made friends in the hour since they’d arrived. Second of all, there were lots of grown up activities including dance parties and various types of competition and Leslie was normally bored on beach vacations, but there would be so many things to  _ win  _ here, so that was great and Ben would be an excellent partner because when he wanted to be he was super competitive too. Also, they got to go swimming with dolphins or something the next day and Nat had just about died of happiness when they told her that.

The downside? Their  _ luxurious  _ cabin upgrade was tiny, not cheap, and the only thing separating their bed from Nat’s bunk beds was a curtain.

And also, Leslie was fairly certain Ben would live in constant fear this would turn into the Poseidon Adventure and was trying to remember everything Gene Hackman had taught him.

But, a  _ curtain  _ and she hadn’t seen her boyfriend in weeks.

She knew that coming in, of course, and they’d both agreed this wasn’t a vacation for them, but a special trip for Nat and if it meant they didn’t get to...reconnect, they would make up for it later.

Leslie just hadn’t appreciated how close the quarters would actually be. Maybe they could have sneaky sex in the shower, because fuck she was horny and Ben’s penis was way better than a vibrator over Skype.

Nat paused a beat.

“Am I interrupting?”

“Yes,” Ben growled and grabbed her wrist when she giggled. “C’mere, are you excited?”

“DADDY I’M SO EXCITED OHMYGOSH and I think I’m tall enough for the waterslide and we get to swim with  _ dolphins  _ and my group tomorrow is having lunch with the disney  _ princesses  _ and I’m  _ so excited.  _ There’s a schedule for my group, can I show you?”

“Yes, show me,” Ben slung an arm around her hips. “And are we going to that show thing after dinner?”

“Yes please,” she sighed contently. “I’m so happy we’re doing this.”

Ben kissed her forehead as Leslie straightened her legs and settled fully on top of him, his arm winding around her.

“Well, it’s a special trip because you’ve been so amazing these last few months and we wanted to thank you.”

Leslie's heart still fluttered every time he said ‘we’. 


	6. Seismic Activity

“Daddy!” Nat squealed from her position perched on top of Leslie’s desk in a crouch. Leslie shifted on the bench, legs already burning from trying to steady herself, Tom was sitting on his desk and Andy was balancing - very unsafely - on a chair, wheeling himself from one end of the office to the other. 

And Ben was now there, standing in the doorway watching this scene play out.

“What, uh, what?” He looked at Leslie who fought to contain a cackle. Nat had come to sit with her while Ben took a late call about permits and she went through the media packets when Andy had run in, dressed as Burt Macklin, and said there was trouble.

Nat, sweet, six year old Nat, had shrieked delightedly and jumped up, declaring -

“DADDY THE FLOOR IS LAVA!”

“Yeah, Ben,” Andy pushed himself along on Tom’s chair, bringing Leslie’s with him. “The floor is lava.”

No way,  _ no way  _ Assistant City Manager Ben Wyatt who looked very ready to go home was into playing office floor lava at 7PM. Even though it was ridiculously fun -

“it’s made of lava,” Ben’s eyes went wide. “Oh nooooo! Not lava! What do I - ”

“Get on the chair!” Nat bounced with a grin. “HELP HIM BURT MACKLIN!”

Andy made a zooming noise for some reason and pushed the chair towards Ben. Ben hopped up and asked something about lava-proof wheels, which Burt Macklin confirmed existed with a spin. Nat rose carefully and held out her arms.

“Daddy, I want to go see Leslie.”

“Okay, hop on,” Ben pushed his way along the desk and Nat climbed into his lap with a silly grin on her face. He demanded a kiss, which made Andy call something about cooties and Tom pulled a weird face.

“This game iiiissss ridiculous, but also, fun to watch while I’m on hold with Valentino.”

“That painter dude? I thought he died.”

“That’s Da Vinci, Andy,” Nat called patiently as she made her way to the bench and out of Ben’s lap. Leslie grabbed her by the hips.

“Just stay where you are, Tom, until we get this lava situation under control,” Nat declared smoothly.

“You got it, kid,” Tom waved at her as they all got settled again.

“Man, I can’t believe the floor is made of lava,” Ben spun back to the desk and hopped on it. “This is the worst. How are we going to get home, Nat?”

“The lava has to cool and we need a break between seismic activity.”

Andy’s mouth popped open and his hands went to his hair. “Whoooa. Even Burt Macklin doesn’t know what those words mean.”

Nat started to giggle and took Leslie’s hand just because she wanted to, hair falling in her eyes and cheeks flushed. After a few more minutes of waiting out the lava (Ben’s words) he gasped dramatically like he’d just remembered something and okay, it was kind of, super adorable. He loosened his tie and took a deep breath.

“Guys, I think I have a way out. It won’t be easy though.”

Tom motioned for him to shush as he explained his feelings on the color of a shirt he’d purchased to a person on the other end of the phone.

“Uh, Burt Macklin, I think I need your help.”

Burt saluted with a flourish. “What do you need, boss?”

“I  _ think _ I might have special lava proof shoes in my gym bag there,” he indicated to the duffel just outside the door. Nat started to bounce on her feet.

“DADDY, WHY DIDN’T YOU BRING YOUR LAVA PROOF SHOES IN?” 

“Gosh, I’m just so silly sometimes, I forgot they were in there.”

“Oh, Daddy,” Nat smacked her forehead. “He  _ always  _ forgets his lava proof shoes.”

Ben grinned in the cutest, dorkiest way Leslie had ever seen and okay yep, her heart definitely fluttered. With each passing day of Harvest Fest work she liked Ben a lot more  _ professionally _ , but seeing him like this was an exception. Seeing him like this, awkwardly trying to maneuver himself back onto her wheely chair after hours on a Friday night to play a silly game with his kid, was kind of...really attractive.

Andy dipped, scooping up the bag and tossing it at Ben, who caught it and spread out the contents on her desk.

“Lava proof shoes,” he declared proudly, taking off his loafers as Nat cheered. Ben slipped on his runners and stood gingerly, balancing and pulling a face.

“Do your feet feel... _ hot _ , boss?” Agent Macklin queried. Nat clamped a hand over her mouth and Leslie bit down on a snicker. God, they were idiots. Adorable, sexy idiots -

No, crap, not sexy. She couldn’t...she was tired, she wasn’t…

“No, they’re...I mean they’re  _ warm _ , but lava proof shoes aren’t perfectly heat proof.” 

“It’s very true,” Nat declared, holding out her arms. Ben lifted and she wound around him with every possible limb.

“Tom, are you comin - ”

“Shhhhhh.”

“Or nooot,” Ben spun to Andy. “Agent Macklin, can you make it out okay?”

“No problemo, boss,” Andy rolled to the office door and then...backflipped through it. He landed awkwardly and groaned, but then jumped up and declared he was okay.

“We have to help Leslie, Daddy,” Nat informed him. Ben wheeled a chair over to her and nodded at it, giving her a little sideways smirk. Leslie climbed on carefully and Ben spun her towards the door. 

“Wait, wait, I need my stuff,” he wheeled her back with a grunt and Nat giggled. Leslie grabbed her purse and her car keys.

“Let’s do it.” 

She laughed as her feet hit the ground outside and Ben shoved her chair back towards the desk.

“Phew, we made it!”

“Phew, and we didn’t even have to wait for the seismic activity to decrease.”

“Good thing, because I’m very hungry. Leslie, would you like to have dinner with us?” Leslie turned to face Nat’s eager expression. Ben smiled crookedly and crap, there went her heart again. He was just so cute and such a good father and the more times she saw him like this the more she appreciated…

“You should grab some dinner with us,” Ben agreed. “If...I mean totally, only if you don’t have...plans or something.”

“I don’t,” she added quickly. Nat grinned.

“Kay, so dinner. I’m feeeeeeling...burgers.”

“Let’s do to it, peanut.”

Nat giggled as he pulled open the door and waited for Leslie to go.

“You’re so silly, Daddy.”

He totally was.

And yup, there was no denying it was totally working for her.


	7. Firsts: Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another drabble for you guys. I hope you're enjoying them and comments and kudos and all that good stuff continue to make my day!

“Hey peanut,” Henry sidled up, a woman in a tangerine dress standing beside him. She was as tall as Ben in heels, with a slim waist and ample curves. She flashed Ben a dazzling smile and Ben returned it, Nat’s feet on top of him and her little hands in his. 

“Hi ya Unca Henwy,” she turned her gaze up, her eyes rich and sparkling. She was easily the cutest flower girl in the world, Ben was certain. Henry dipped down and kissed her lips.

“I was wondering if I could have this dance, since it’s my wedding and all.”

Nat’s mouth twisted and she glanced back at Ben.

“I stay wit Dada.”

She had. Julia Wyatt had suggested Ben take Nat for a dance and that was well over an hour ago. Every song, fast or slow, Nat wanted to stand on his feet and sway, her little tongue poking out in concentration.

“You want to stay with your dad? But you haven’t even danced with meeeee yet. Pleaaaaase,” Henry pouted. “Please, please, pleaaaaaase dance with me?”

Nat squealed delightedly as he smooched all over her cheeks. Ben grinned and brushed a curl back. Steph had spent forever trying to get them to hold that morning and Nat had not been a fan of hairspray, but fuck, she looked adorable in her poofy white dress and apple green sash.

“And my friend Sarah will keep your old dad company while we do, okay? I’m a much better dancer, I promise.”

Ben was way too amused by the very careful look she shot the woman in the tangerine dress. Her mouth twisted and she tapped her chin.

“Otay.”

Henry peeled Nat away gently and Sarah took his hands. She had a pretty smile and laughed softly when Ben made a bad joke about the song that the DJ put on next.

It was _maybe_ sixty seconds later when he felt a little finger tapping at his leg. Sarah snickered and glanced down.

“Is that it? That’s all I get with Daddy?”

“Ya. My tuwn.”

Ben siiiighed, shooting Sarah an apologetic look as he released her, stooping down to lift Nat into his arms. She giggled and he kissed her face. Sarah touched his back and said he should find her later. 

“You’re hogging me, Nat.”

“Ya.”

“You’re okay with that?”

She nodded and pecked his cheek. Ben smiled.

“I love you.”

“Ya, Dada. I know.”

Ben rolled his eyes when Henry appeared again and gave Nat an enthusiastic high-five behind his head.

Because his almost-three year old totally just Solo’d him.

Thanks, Uncle Henry. 


	8. DC: Month Two

“This is my room,” Nat declared with a yawn. It was late, very late, Ben had been stuck at the office and Nat had been playing tennis all day before Leslie had picked her up. She’d squealed when she saw her, tackled her in greeting and prattled on the entire way to Ben’s office. The extra day was worth missing work for because it meant she had some time to get settled before her meeting with the guy from Interior the next afternoon. And Ben had texted her to tell her there was some swanky DC cocktail party the following night they would go to. 

Because her amazing boyfriend was a big, important mover and shaker and she was so happy for him.

Leslie took in the overly large bed in the tiny space and pressed a kiss to Nat’s hair when she noticed the picture on the dresser. It was of the three of them on election day taken right after her victory speech, Leslie bending over to fix Nat’s collar as she whispered something to the two of them. Ben touched her hip from behind and dropped his mouth to her shoulder, which sent a shiver down her spine. 

“Alright peanut, time for bed,” he gave Leslie’s butt a quick pat as he moved around to get Nat settled. “You have to take Leslie exploring while I’m at work tomorrow, remember?” 

“Yes, Leslie. It’s going to be  _ amazing _ .”

“Can’t wait, you’re the DC expert, not me.”

“You brought a guidebook though.”

“Just to be thorough,” Leslie tickled her belly. The house felt so lonely without both of them. At least when Ben left initially she’d had Nat, and City Council took up a lot of her time, but when she came home at night the emptiness got to her in a way it probably shouldn’t. She’d been single for longer than she’d been living with anyone, but she missed reading Harry Potter with Nat cuddled against her. The first Skype date after bringing Nat to DC she’d watched them snuggling in his massive bed and felt envious of the warm little body against Ben. She could only imagine how bad it had been for Ben the other way around. 

And also, she missed Ben like crazy, of course, but DC was where he needed to be right now so somehow that made it bearable.

“Alright, you saw Leslie lots today and you have her tomorrow.”

Nat siiiiighed. “But we’re reading a chapter.”

“Yes, and you’re doing all the reading.”

“I know, Daddy.”

“Did you brush your teeth?”

Nat pouted, tossing her book in the center of the bed and promising she’d be  _ right back _ . Ben watched, amused, as she padded out the door. Leslie high fived him.

“Nice call.”

The more the Nat read herself the faster she would fall asleep and the faster Leslie got to jump his very sexy congressional campaign running bones. As soon as the bathroom door closed Ben gathered her up and caught her lips with his.

“Hi.”

“Mhmmm hi.”

“The walls are thin, so you have to be quiet later, which will be a challenge, I know - ”

She hit him as she cackled. 

“Wait, how do you know the walls are thin?”

Ben blushed. “Our last uh...she heard...pieces.”

“Oh god, ew.”

“Yep. I think I convinced her the apartment is haunted though.”

“Oh, good,” she teased. “That’s a relief.”

Ben grinned dorkily and they kept kissing until Nat returned.

Five more months. They could do five more months. 


	9. DC: Dave Returns...Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another drabble for you guys! Enjoy!

“Are you okay?” Leslie dropped to the ground as Nat made her way out of the car on shaky legs. Nat sniffled and swiped at her eyes, but nodded as Leslie’s arms curled around her. 

“I’m okay, it just scared me.”

“I know, I know, me too, but you’re not hurt are you?”

“N-no.”

Leslie kissed her head and squeezed as tightly as she dared. “You’re okay, honey,” she promised as Nat started to cry into her neck. Leslie’s throat tightened and she instantly wished Ben wasn’t so far away.

“Hey,” she managed gently. “It was just a little fender bender, it feels scarier than it is, as long as you aren’t hurt....”

“I just wish Daddy w-was here - ”

“Hello  _ woman driver _ , what the hell is wrong with you?”

Jamm.

Leslie straightened, Nat’s face in her hip, and glared at him.

“WHAT THE HELL’S WRONG WITH ME? WHAT THE HELL’S WRONG WITH YOU! I’m…” she whipped at her phone. “I am calling the police department and they will be here to tell you how wrong you are and how this is your fault because I had the right of way and you scared…” 

Her kid. Yeah, that’s right, Jamm was a douche who scared her poor little peanut and could’ve injured them. Leslie held Nat close as Jamm continued to snarl things and she retaliated just as aggressively until a police cruiser finally pulled up. Leslie’s eyes went wide when she saw a tall figure and a flash of red hair emerge.

That couldn’t be…

“H-hey, Leslie.”

Dave.

“Is everyone okay?” he held up his hands and Nat peered at him cautiously. Dave blinked and his eyes landed on Leslie.

“Oh, you uh...who’s...hi...are you okay...small...small child?”

“I’m okay, thank you,” Nat wiped her eyes.

“You uh...you...who’s this?” Dave’s gaze locked on her.

“Ben’s daughter, Natalie,” Leslie twisted her fingers through Nat’s hair. “ He’s in DC.”

“Oh, uh...right, you’re...you’re still...dating him.”

Nat’s head snapped back and she arched an eyebrow in the exact same way her father would. Leslie tightened her hand just as her phone rang.

“That’s...that’s probably him.”

“Oh yeah, of...right, so I’ll...I’ll just take your statements and…”

“Thanks, just give me one minute,” she pressed the button on her phone and exhaled when she heard Ben’s voice. It shifted from concerned to a little frantic, as she assured him everyone was fine, just a slightly freaked out.

“Uh, hey,  _ officer,  _ some people have places to be, can you stop making goo goo eyes at Knope and take  _ my  _ statement?”

Ugh, Jamm was the worst.

“Dave’s taking our statements,” Leslie blurted out. Because she should tell him that. Obviously he had nothing to worry about, but she should definitely tell Ben her ex-boyfriend, the incumbent Chief of Police, was back in town and had taken it upon himself to personally come and handle a simple two car collision with no apparent injuries.

“O-oh. That’s...oh cool, great, coolio beans, that’s...I’m glad someone’s there who…” 

“I WANT TO TALK TO DADDY!” 

Leslie bent down and kissed Nat’s forehead as she handed over the phone. Dave gave her an awkward smile and Leslie forced herself to take a deep breath.

It was just a little uncomfortable, no big deal.  

*****

“Who was that man?” It was much later, almost bedtime, and they were both finally starting to relax from the incident.

“Jamm? He’s on City Council with me and he’s a stupid jerkface - but don’t use that word - and he’s the worst and - ”

“No, the other man. The cop.”

“Oh,” Leslie felt her cheeks flame as she stirred the hot chocolate on the stove. “He’s...an old friend.”

“He kept looking at you funny.”

“No he didn’t!”

Nat shot her a look. Ugh, smartypants.

“We dated for a while and last time he was here he said he had...romantic feelings for me and I didn’t know he was back in town, but it doesn’t matter. I guess he came out there because he was...he wanted to help us.”

“Oh,” Nat bit her lip. “He wants to be your boyfriend?”

“That’s…” Leslie gulped. “He sort of said that before, yes.”

“Oh,” Nat bit her lip. “But you have one of those so did you tell him no thank you?”

Leslie turned down the heat with a smile. She bent over and cupped Nat’s cheeks.

“I have the best boyfriend in the whole world and I told him that.”

Nat's slightly anxious expression changed into a grin. “And you meant Daddy.”

“Of course I meant Daddy. I love him more than anything.”

“Do you love the cop guy?”

Leslie bit her lip. “I...did. Technically.”

“Oh,” Nat hesitated. “Like Chris loved Ann but he doesn’t want to be her boyfriend anymore?"

“Sort of, yes.” 

“Got it, relationship stuff is complicated,” Nat wound her arms around her neck. “I wanna sit up, please.”

Leslie lifted her onto the counter and went back to the stove as Nat studied her phone and then pouted.

“Still no Daddy?” 

“You talked to him earlier, he had to go to that meeting, remember?”

“I know,” Nat sighed. “His meeting’s just taking a while.”

“He will call as soon as he can. You know…”

The sound of the front door opening startled them both and Nat squeaked, slapping a hand over her mouth. Leslie helped her down, hurried to the hallway and blinked as Ben, a very rumpled and tired-looking Ben, strolled through the living room with a bag over his shoulder.

“What are you doing here!?” she squealed as his arms wound around her and he gave her a warm kiss, nose pushing against hers. “Babe, it was just a fender bender, you didn’t have to - ”

“It wasn’t that. I just missed you,” he squeezed tighter, keeping an arm around her as he moved into the kitchen. Nat shrieked and flung herself at him. Their mutual relief seemed to seep into her bones and Leslie exhaled. She’d just missed him too.

“DADDY, YOU’RE HOME!”

“I’m home, I’m home,” he kissed Nat’s nose. “That’s why I didn’t call,” he murmured into her hair as her arms tightened around his neck. Leslie tried to peel away, but Ben kept her where she was, standing slowly with Nat still attached.

“I thought you were coming  _ next  _ weekend,” she whispered. 

“I was, and I still am, but I missed you too much to wait that long. Are you okay, peanut?”

Nat beamed and pressed her lips to his chin.

“Uh huh, it just scared me a little. I met Dave.”

“I heard.”

“He’s a cop. He used to be Leslie’s boyfriend.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ben dipped down to kiss Leslie again as they both definitely recalled the pipe handcuffing incident.

“Mhmm,” he nipped just a little, sending a pull of need to her center. Okay, he totally didn’t need to come home but she was so glad he had, because she was feeling the urge to make out a lot.

“We’re having hot chocolate,” Nat informed him, as they were smiling into each other. Ben straightened and shuffled to the stove. “But we can make more for you, Daddy. Oh my gosh, we can spin the wheel for movie night!”

Leslie wished she’d stop getting so stupidly emotional every time she watched them reunite, but Nat was always  _ so happy  _ to see him, as she should be, but it just…

Hurt her heart to think about how they were apart for so long, and also warmed her as she appreciated that Ben trusted her to do this, take care of his daughter when he had to go away for a bit.

“And I asked Leslie and she doesn’t love Dave anymore, just you.”

Ben grinned crookedly. “Was that worrying you?”

“No, Daddy. I was just letting you know.”

He laughed softly, mouth landing on Leslie’s neck.

“Thanks, but I knew that already,” he whispered. Leslie smiled through the unexpected lump in her throat and she inhaled everything that was Ben.

Good, she was glad.


	10. Firsts: School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying these drabbles! Comments/kudos/likes are amazing and thank you in advance for them :).

He kept stealing kisses and she kept letting him, her little black jumper, white socks and Mary Janes freaking adorable, if he did say so himself. She didn’t want to wear her glasses for fear of being called four eyes, but Uncle Henry had been on the phone with her last night and (thankfully) convinced her that if anyone was mean to her she could tell them who to deal with. 

Because her big, bad, uncle wanted to pick on some five year olds. Okay.

“I’m nervous,” she whispered as they filed inside the classroom, hand tightly in his. He’d taken the morning off work to bring her and his own pulse was racing at the idea of her starting kindergarten.

_ Kindergarten _ . It felt like just last week he’d been rocking her to sleep and begging her to drink her bottle.

Nat squared her shoulders and took a deep breath as she stepped into the colorful classroom with rainbow wallpaper.

“Daddy?” she tugged him down. Ben leaned in.

“Mhmm?”

“What if nobody likes me?”

“Then they’re idiots.”

She giggled behind her hand whispered that was a bad word. Ben pushed his face into her hair. 

“Nooooo they’re not. They just don’t like who I am as a person.”

He wanted to reiterate, anyone who didn’t like who Nat was as a person was definitely an idiot, but then they were in front of the teacher, a pretty brunette who looked to be in her late 30s. She beamed and held out her hand.

“Hello. I’m Mrs. Carson.”

“Hello, I’m Ms. Wyatt,” Nat stuck out her hand, mimicking the woman's tone exactly. Ben bit his lip and Mrs. Carson crouched, shaking gently.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wyatt. Is that what I should call you?”

“You may call me Natalie. This is my daddy, Mr. Wyatt. What should I call you?”

Ben brushed her hair back. “You call your teacher Mrs. Carson, peanut.”

“Oh,” Nat furrowed her brow. “Then I changed my mind, you may call me Ms. Wyatt.”

“Nat,” Ben murmured. “Do you really want to be called that all year?”

“I suppose not," she sighed and turned to face the teacher again. "Are we going to be doing any math today?”

Mrs. Carson smiled warmly. “We are, we’ll be starting with a lesson on counting this afternoon and probably doing some work with shapes tomorrow.”

Nat's eyebrow raised and Ben squeezed her hand gently. 

“Counting?”

“We have some colorful blocks and tiles and - ”

“But I know how to count already," Nat interrupted. "I thought I was supposed to learn  _ new things  _ at school.”

Oh no. 

“Nat,” Ben warned. Mrs. Carson frowned.

“Well, we want to make sure all the children know how to count before we move onto anything more complicated.”

Nat’s eyes flooded instantly with tears and she turned into Ben.

“Daddy, Daddy I don’t want to go to school. I want to stay home with you, I changed my mind, I don’t want to go to school, please don’t make me - ”

“Ohhhhkay, okay,” Ben knelt and wrapped her up.

“Because I don’t want to do counting, I want to do math, please. You promised I would learn things.”

“You will, you will, and you’ll have fun and you’ll make friends and maybe you know how to do all the math already, but you’ll learn spelling and reading and you’ll like it, Nat. I promise.”

“But I want to stay with you.”

“But I go to work,” he pressed his lips to her nose. “I have to make money.”

“Can you just stay for a little bit, please?”

Ben swallowed the lump in his own throat as Mrs. Carson gave a nod. “A lot of parents will stay for the first few hours,” she assured him.

“Please, Daddy?” Tears slipped down Nat's cheeks and Ben wiped them away.

“Okay, peanut.”

“Thank you,” she heaved her shoulders and turned to the colorful place card with her name on it. She tried to smile at the little boy beside her who gave a friendly wave, snot trickling down his nose. Ben pulled a face that mirrored his daughter’s exactly.

“I can count to thirty,” the boy informed her proudly. “How high can you count?”

Nat dropped her head into her hand and muttered “ _ Good lord _ .” Ben winced, but also tried to tamp down on a smile, the boy’s mother beside him and looking mildly horrified.

They would probably need to talk about that tonight. 


	11. Girls' Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever After is on TV so it kind of felt like a sign to post this.

Ben blinked as Ann flung the door open just before racing back to the couch and climbing in beside Nat. Leslie remained on the other side of his six-year-old, who was wearing a tiara and feather boa, her toes sparkly pink and poking out of her pajama pants. She waved frantically and motioned him inside.

“Peanut, we should - ”

“No, Daddy please! She’s going to the ball and they made her wings and it’s so beautiful and please, Daddy.”

“Uh, what?”

“Ever After,” Leslie mumbled through a mouthful of popcorn. “Come sit and watch the end with us.”

He was supposed to be avoiding Leslie. They’d kissed in his hallway and we’re figuring things out and he was supposed to be avoiding her.

“O-okay...but…”

“It’s a Friday, let her stay up late,” Ann Perkins, new authority on children, chimed in. Ben snorted. A colleague had been in town and he’d been out with them and Chris for a few beers, which had resulted in a “girls' night”.

Leslie moved a pillow and patted the sofa cushion beside her. As soon as Ben settled, Nat catapulted herself into his lap.

“It’s so romantic,” she whispered, eyes wide as she reached for a Red Vine. He should’ve asked how many she’d had at this point, but ignorance was bliss. Nat sighed and cuddled into him as Leslie’s lips twitched.

“It is romantic.”

“But a man doesn’t define her, he loves her because she’s got her own mind.”

Oh, lord.

Not that Ben didn’t agree with that sentiment.

“Okay, wait,” Ben played dumb. “Who’s that? The Evil Queen?”

“Cinderella, Daddy. Her stepmother is there with her sisters. Isn’t her dress beautiful?”

“Beautiful,” Ben agreed. “And who’s she going to marry? The pirate?”

Nat giggled and pushed her palm into his face. “The priiiiince; you’re goofy.”

“The prince, oh, okay, he’s the old guy, right?”

“That’s Leonardo Da Vinci,” Nat informed him as Ann threw popcorn his way. Leslie snickered and, whether intentionally or not, shifted a little closer to the both of them.

“It’s so romantic,” Nat whispered as Cinderella hurried through the ballroom and came to stand in front of the prince. “He loves her so much, Daddy. She helped him with the gypsies because she’s very brave.”

Ben smiled and kissed her hair, Ann excusing herself just as her phone buzzed.

“It’s very romantic,” Leslie agreed, shifting a little closer. Nat gasped dramatically as something happened, but Ben totally missed it because Leslie’s pinky linked around his and her blue eyes were slanting up at him. 

Fuck, they weren’t supposed to be doing this, looking at each other like this, hanging out alone or mostly-alone watching “romantic” movies while cuddling his daughter together. 

“Wait,” Ben murmured to Nat. “Why is she crying if he loves her back?”

“They’re breaking up, Daddy.”

“But why?”

“Because she lied to him.

“ _Oh_ ,” he glanced down, throat tightening as Leslie’s gaze locked on his. She waggled her eyebrows and he managed a grin.

“It’s very important to tell the truth in relationships.”

“Oh, yeah? Do you know that from personal experience?”

“Yes,” she snuggled impossibly closer. “I know that from Uncle Henry,” Nat moved some of the blanket covering his legs. Ben lifted his arm, draping it over the back of the couch as Leslie smushed in, a whiff of her now familiar shampoo flooding his nostrils.

Fuck.

This was the absolute last place he should be and he never wanted to move.


	12. DC: The Nightly Report with Natalie Wyatt

“Good lord,” Leslie laughed at Ben’s exclamation behind the door of his apartment, poised to leap as soon as he flung it open. She threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly. Ben lifted her up, stumbling back. 

“What are you doing here?” he whispered as her lips found his. He was in pajamas, but he smelled faintly of his new cologne and her insides burned at the idea of being consumed by him. For as sweet and simple as their kiss started, it built quickly and soon her mouth was on his neck and she was suckling, drawing a low moan from him.

“Hi,” murmured into his skin. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“It worked,” Ben put the chain on the door, noses bumping. “Oh my god, I missed you.”

“I missed you,” she kissed back hard, winding her arms. “Is she…?” 

“Yeah, yeah yeah,” Ben backed up towards his bedroom. “For a good hour.”

“I brought you a present,” she declared, sliding her tongue against his. Ben groaned, flailing behind him to push his bedroom door open. Leslie kicked it shut with her foot and Ben shushed her, his cock pressing insistently against her belly and sending a flood of need to her center.

“Oh yeah, where is it?” He nibbled her earlobe and her fingers tightened in his hair.

“Take off my clothes and you’ll find out, Wyatt.”

“Fuck.”

She cackled again when he threw her onto the bed.

He froze when he peeled her sundress down enough to catch a glimpse of her new red neglige.

“Oh my god.”

She sat up with a smirk. “Wait wait, let me show you the whole thing. It’s so uncomfortable but I wore it the whole plane ride so you could see it.”

“I’ll do it,” he growled, obviously delighting in the way she squeaked in response. She sighed as he licked down her throat, dressing coming down the rest of the way and landing in a heap beside his bed. He gulped when he took in the lace, pushing his face into her belly and nuzzling.

“Fuck,” he repeated, which got him answering laugh.

Which got them a frantic knock on Ben’s door.

Which got them a “Daddy! Is that Leslie?!”

“I’ll say we’re on the computer,” he muttered through kisses, but Leslie hit him.

“She’ll see I’m here in the morning.”

“No no no no,” he started to pout, whining into her bare skin. “This isn’t happening, this - ”

“DADDY LESLIE’S SHOES ARE AT THE FRONT DOOR!”

They both sighed.

“Yeah, Nat, I’m here. Just give me five minutes.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” Ben snapped as Leslie slid into the bathrobe he owned but never wore. He kept it in DC for her now.

“I woke up because I was thirsty because it’s very hot in Washington and then I heard Leslie laughing.”

Leslie cinched the tie at her waist and gave Ben a little nod.

“Alright, come in.”

Leslie had barely settled up against some pillows when Nat came piling onto the mattress and wrapped around her like a monkey, peppering kisses. It was hard to be irritated when she received that kind of a greeting.

“Hey, how are you?”

“I missed you!” Nat squeaked. “I have  _ so many things _ to tell you.”

“Well, Daddy has a lot of things he needs to tell Leslie too, so make it - ”

“But we didn’t do our nightly report!”

Ben shot Leslie a look because yes, okay, that was totally her fault. Every night Ben had been in DC Nat gave a detailed update on the day, and the tradition had continued when Nat left to join him. Leslie called it The Nightly Report with Natalie Wyatt and had even come up with a theme song that she was now required to hum every time.

It was adorable.

“Welcome to the Nightly Report with Natalie Wyatt,” Leslie palmed her cheeks and grinned. She missed them both so much and yes, she’d definitely strategically planned to arrive late at night to get some quality alone time with Ben, but this was great too. Nat would be asleep shortly anyway.

“What’s in the news today, Nat?”

Nat grinned, nose scrunching cutely.

“I played tennis and one of the girls I beat was the senator from Virginia’s daughter and I saw her mom come to pick her up and she cried when I beat her.”

Leslie smiled. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. It was very immature. And she’s  _ ten _ . And my coach started calling me Ace, which I don’t like, but I like that it means I’m good.”

Leslie leaned back in her pillows, sliding onto Ben’s arm and rubbing Nat’s bare legs.

“What else?”

“I had the best cupcake ever that someone gave Daddy at work and I think we should get more. You’re going to love them, Leslie.”

Ben smiled and pressed his lips to Leslie’s hair.

“And next week I get to go on a  _ White House  _ tour, and I have a tennis tournament next weekend and Mel said she was going to come and watch me if I wanted.”

“Well, she asked me,” Ben clarified. “And I said it was up to Nat and she sounds really excited about it.”

Nat nodded eagerly.

“And I used my new birthday tablet - thank you again by the way - I used it to talk to Shawny tonight and he scored six goals in soccer against the team from Eagleton. It's a record; they crushed them.”

Okay, go Shawn. 

Nat yawned and snuggled against Leslie’s chest, uttering “And that’s the Nightly Report with Natalie Wyatt.” Leslie kissed her ear and snuggled closer to Ben, feeling tired herself. When she yawned too Ben pinched her thigh.

She was still humming the Nightly Report theme song when Nat was back in her own bed and Ben was pulling her underneath him.

“Please stop,” he murmured, kissing her so slowly it made her chest ache and her toes curl. She snickered and shook her head.

“Make me.”

Ben growled, disappearing swiftly between red fabric and nipping at her thigh. Leslie moaned and his fingers tightened. She definitely stopped humming after that.

  
Ben just  _ had _ to win all the time, didn’t he? 


	13. Firsts: New House

“You’re gonna fall.” 

“No.”

“Yes,” Ben looked away from the nail he’d just hammered into the wall. Nat’s lip jutted out in annoyance, hair spilling out of two tiny ponytails.

“No,” she took off again, skidding into a beam and barely escaping a collision by using her hands to brace herself. Ben cleared his throat, wishing he’d had the house baby proofed before they moved in. Lesson learned. 

“Nat, you’re gonna faaaallll,” he sing songed. “Sit down and take your socks off and walk nicely. We’ll run outside tomorrow.”

Nat stared at him intently, obviously considering his recommendation, before flopping on her butt and carefully peeling off both of her pink socks with lace trim. She stood up and took off again at full speed, cackling.

“DADA PAY!”

“Play, play, play tomorrow, peanut.”

“Daadaaa - oomph,” Ben spun just in time to see Nat go falling to the floor in a heap. Her brow furrowed, like she wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, and her eyes went wide.

“Ow.”

Ben fought every basic instinct he had - because they were all telling him to run to her and see if she was okay or broken or bleeding. But the baby books said not to do that and since he still knew nothing about having a toddler and his mother agreed Ben would do his best to follow that advice.

“You’re okay,” he stepped over and managed to keep his voice level, even though he was definitely anxious. “You’re okay, baby, get up.”

“Ow, Dada.”

“You’re okay,” he saw her lower lip start to tremble so he reached down and lifted her onto her feet, ceremonially brushing her off.

“Ow, Dada.”

“This is why we can’t run around inside with no shoes on. We fall down.”

“Ya Dada, no mo’ wunning.”

“No more running, just walk nicely,” he patted her butt and kissed all over her face until she squealed and giggled.  

“Otay. S’a deal.” 


	14. Firsts: Fight, Part 1

“Ms. Knope?” 

“Yes?”

“This is Sandy from Pawnee Elementary. I’m calling on behalf of Principal - ”

“What happened?” Leslie jumped up from her desk. She’d been having coffee with her mother who was currently trying to calm her with a series of hand gestures. “Is she hurt? Do I need to call a doctor - ”

“No, no no, nothing like that. We actually need you to come down. There’s been an incident and Natalie was involved.”

“An  _ incident _ ?” white hot panic flooded Leslie. “What kind of incident? Is she okay?”

“She was involved in a bit of a fight and a boy was injured. We’d like you to come down with the other parents. She’s in the office right now waiting.”

Leslie’s eyes were wide when she hung up the phone. Marlene rolled hers.

“Kids get into things, Leslie. It’s not a big deal,” she was frantically trying to find her keys, which Marlene tossed at her. “Sweetheart, calm down. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“There’s no way -  _ no way -  _ Nat would do anything to get her sent to the Principal’s office.”

“That’s what all parents say, Leslie, but stuff comes up,” Marlene stood and patted her arm. “Come on, I’ll go with you.”

That might be what all parents said, but with Nat it was  _ true _ . She would never do anything like that.

In the car her mother warned her not to make a big deal out of it. She said walk in, stay calm, listen to what the school administrators had to say and then talk to Nat about it later.

Had Marlene met Leslie? Easier said than done. 

Nat’s cheeks were tear stained and she was perched in a plastic, orange chair. A boy sat on one side of her, ice on his knee, and Shawn sat on the other, eyes on the ground. Another woman was already there, hovering around the boy with the injured knee, and Joanne breezed in right behind Leslie looking unimpressed.

“What happened?” she demanded at the secretary, who held up her hand and said the principal would be right out. Joanne turned to Leslie who gave her head a little shake indicating she had no idea. But she would, because Nat would tell her the truth, that much she was certain.

Crap, playing mom was stressful, wasn’t it?

“Le-Leslie,” Nat whimpered and wiped her eyes. Leslie moved - because how could she  _ not _ ? - and crouched in front of her. Marlene murmured something, but Leslie didn’t hear her.

“Are you her mother?” the woman beside the boy with the ice snapped. Leslie’s whipped to face her as Nat wound her arms around her neck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered into Leslie’s ear. The woman’s harsh voice snapped again.

“She called him a dumb sexist jerk and then her friend punched him.” 

For the record, Marlene’s answering snort was totally inappropriate. Nat turned her big brown eyes up apologetically and Leslie squeezed her.

“I didn’t  _ punch  _ him. I only pushed him because he pushed Nat,” Shawn chimed in, shaky but certain. Joanne remained icy, but when the principal appeared to usher them into the office, Leslie caught her ruffling his hair gently.

The principal (who apparently knew Marlene, because they hugged immediately) asked the children to explain what happened and the boy - Jerry (of course) - started babbling about how Nat and Shawn were picking on him and Shawn punched him in the arm and he fell.

“I didn’t punch him,” Shawn repeated softly. “I just pushed him because he pushed Nat.”

“Well Natalie started it, from the sounds of it - ”

“Sounds of what, we still don’t even know what happened!” Joanne snapped. Marlene’s fingers pressed into Leslie’s shoulder and she knew she was being commended for her ability to keep her mouth shut when all she wanted to do was punch  _ Jerry’s  _ annoying mother in her stupid face.

“Natalie has never been involved in anything like this before,” the principal leaned forward, voice warm, but firm. “Why don’t you tell everyone what you think happened, Natalie.”

Nat took a deep breath and glanced back at Leslie. She came to standing between her legs as she spoke.

“Okay, so, I was in the field and we were playing soccer and some of the fifth grade boys were playing too.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be playing with boys two years older than you are - ”

“Can you let her speak,” Leslie growled finally, every cell in her body desperate to erupt. Nat took another breath.

“So, we were already playing  _ our  _ game and they wanted to play too and Jerry told me I couldn’t play because I’m a girl and it was a boys’ game.”

Nat’s eyes darkened and her nose crinkled. “And I said that was unfair and he said dumb third graders don’t get to play soccer with them and I said it’s our ball. And he said I was a dumb girl and  _ then _ I said he was a dumb sexist jerk and he pushed me, and I would’ve pushed him back but Shawn did it first and Shawn’s only in fourth grade, but he’s much bigger and he’s my best friend in the whole world and I don’t want him to get in trouble.”

Oh god, Leslie wanted to cuddle her so tightly she couldn’t stand it.

“So, she did start it,” Jerry’s evil mother snarled. “What are we going to do about it? He hurt his knee and he has basketball tryouts next week.”

“Well,” the principal cleared her throat. “I think, given that this was a first offense we’ll say everyone apologize, no recess for two days and I’ll leave you to punish them.”

“That sounds fair,” Marlene piped up. Nat leaned back into Leslie and sighed. Leslie shut her eyes and waited.

And when she opened them she realized every gaze in the room was on her and Nat.

“I’m not apologizing until Jerry does,” Nat declared.

“You started it!” Jerry’s mother roared. Nat spun, eyes flashing the same way Ben’s did when someone was arguing with him in a meeting. Uh oh.

“I did not _ start it, _ ” she growled icily. Yep, just like Ben. “I just wanted to play and Jerry told me I couldn’t and I only called him a dumb sexist jerk because  _ that’s what he was being  _ so I’m not apologizing until he apologizes first.”

“Has nobody taught her any manners?” 

Okay, whoa, second-least-favorite-name-for-a-woman needed to  _ back down _ before Leslie offered her a few choice words. Or punched her. Ugh, she really wanted to punch her.

Leslie squared her shoulders. “I agree. He started it, why does Nat have to apologize first?”

“What kind of  _ language  _ do you teach your child?” 

What language? Sexist? Oh good god, someone needed to get these people word of the day toilet paper.

“Okay, okay,” the principal held up her hands. “On the count of three we’ll all say sorry together.”

“Principal Harding, I’m very sorry, but I’m not going to apologize if I don’t mean it.”

“But you didn’t mean for Jerry to hurt his knee, did you Natalie?”

“No,” she tensed. “I suppose not.”

“So, you are sorry that happened and on the count of three we all apologize together for that and for what we said that hurt people’s feelings.”

Nat sighed and glanced at Leslie who wanted nothing more than to snap that Nat should absolutely not have to apologize for anything and she was so proud of her for sticking up for herself, but Marlene’s firm hand on her back reminded her this wasn’t the time or place.

There was a chorus of forced  _ sorrys _ and Shawn and Jerry were made to shake hands. Nat tried to do the same, but Jerry ignored her.

Ugh. Dumb, sexist jerk.

On the way out the door Shawn - who was at least half a head taller than the boy a year older than him - leaned down and said something in his ear. Jerry’s eyes went wide and his cheeks drained of color as his mother ushered him out the door, none the wiser. Joanne gave Shawn’s shoulder a little smack.

“Excuse me, sir, what was that?”

Shawn shook his head and trudged forward, whispering  _ nothing, Mom  _ as they exited the building.

“Is Ben still in DC?” Joanne asked as Leslie took Nat’s hand on the way out. Leslie nodded and thumbed her palm.

“Tell him we’re sorry she got involved. That kid’s been giving Shawn crap for weeks because they’re both going out for basketball; that’s probably why he picked on her.”

“Daddy’s going to be so mad,” Nat gasped, and then finally dissolved into sobs. Leslie jolted, crouching down and putting her arms around her.

“No no no, Daddy won’t be so mad. He won’t be happy, but he’ll be so proud of you for standing up for yourself.”

“I’m so-sorry I got Shawny in tr-trouble Joanne.”

“It wasn’t your fault, sweetheart, I promise. Jerry was just trying to get Shawn in trouble and that woman is a…”

“Yes,” Leslie and Marlene agreed in unison.

“You should come over soon,” she looked at Leslie. “Maybe this Saturday? We have nothing in the afternoon.”

“Sounds great,” she brushed Nat’s hair, willing the tension to leave her shoulders. That had been the worst, keeping her mouth shut when all she’d wanted to do was jump in and defend her brave baby.

Yes,  _ her _ baby, and just like she refused to apologize in that press conference when Ben punched a jerk for her, she refused to make Nat feel like she did anything wrong.

Nat threw herself at Shawn when they said goodbye, peppering kisses along his cheek and squeezing him within an inch of his life. Marlene laughed and said Ben would have fun with that in a few years  which Leslie couldn’t even deal with in the moment. Shawn patted her back lightly and set her down as Joanne motioned for him to get in the car.

“Also, I think it’s pretty great she called him sexist and Jerry’s mom thought that was a bad word.”

Nat didn’t even giggle, pressing her face to Leslie and trudging along to their vehicle. 


	15. DC: Month Four

“How are you doing?” Leslie tore her eyes away from Nat and Robert to ask, the sun highlighting the perfect, impeccable angles of Mel’s face. Mel took a long drag of sangria and sighed. 

“He wants alimony.”

“Aren’t...doesn’t he...”

“I make double what he does,” she sighed and adjusted her sunglasses. “God, he’s being such an asshole about it. I might be swearing off men permanently after this.”

Her eyes flitted up to Robert who was in fits of giggles at something Nat did. Nat grinned and lifted him gently as they did another lap through the sprinkler.

“Well, all but one man,” she swirled the ice in her glass. “How are you doing?”

“It’s…” Leslie debated how honest she should be, but Mel had been nothing but helpful with Ben in DC and she was a good confidant. “We’ve had a few...incidents.”

“Nobody’s perfect, Leslie,” Mel stated simply. “New parents fuck up all the time, you just happen to be a new parent to a child that’s old enough and aware enough to call you out on it.”

Leslie tried to smile. “Yeah, I know. It’s...it’s just not always rational. I try and explain myself and...”

“No, it’s not,” Mel agreed. “She’s smart, but she’s still eight and sometimes she’ll be mad at you for no reason or for a reason you don’t understand and you just have to...let her slam the door and have her moment and then pull it together. Be grateful she’s not a toddler. Or a teenager.”

Leslie took a sip of her own drink and let Nat’s laugh wash over her. Her chest tightened. Of course there had been incidents, but she still loved every part of these months with Nat. She regretted nothing and if anything, they’d be even closer by the time Ben came home.

“If I ever do meet someone else or get married again...I hope Rob loves him half as much as Nat does you. You are doing great, mistakes or not - don’t doubt yourself. You know how protective Ben is of her and he trusts you with this. That’s huge.”

Leslie’s eyes stung for an instant as Mel patted her arm reassuringly. Already it was hard to remember why she’d hated this woman so much.

“LESLIE!” Nat ran over, soaked, and climbed onto her lap for kisses. Leslie laughed and rubbed her back.

“You’re all wet now, you have to come play.”

Leslie grinned, eyes darting over towards Mel. “You are very right and I think Mel needs to come play too.”

Mel shrieked as Nat climbed on top of her and got her pretty silk blouse all wet.  _ Oops _ .

“MAMA PAY!” Robert called with a wave. Mel reached for her glass and drained the rest of it.

“Oh, you guys are so dead,” she taunted, kicking off her very expensive looking shoes and tearing across the grass. Leslie cackled and ran after her. 


	16. Firsts: Babysitting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a prompt for Nat's first disastrous babysitting experience, so here we are! Nat takes on the triplets!

Crap. 

Crap. Crap. Double crap. Triple crap.

Where the heck did he go?

Ugh, she’d murder him. She’d find him, smother him with kisses for being alright and then murder him.

She would’ve  _ never  _ done something like this at three, just for the record, even her dad agreed with her. And Roz, yes, okay, Roz always seemed super frazzled, but this was for a mere  _ hour  _ while their parents were at an emergency strategy session with Jen Barkley and the triplets were always good for her. When she came home from school and Roz was pulling out her hair Nat could always settle them. Sonia wanted to play dress-up and Westley was happy enough coloring and Stephen…

Yes, Stephen liked to run around and skin his knees and get the dirtiest, but she could usually put down their “craft tarp” and let him cover it and himself in fingerpaint. If her parents had work to do they’d sometimes be in the office for well over an hour and Nat would watch the triplets and never bother them once.

And she was so insistent they could handle it. She told them they didn’t need to call anyone else because she was thirteen and half her class acted like grown toddlers anyway and  _ surely  _ she could handle her siblings for that long.

And she had been! Her dad had texted and confirmed everything was going fine right before the meeting started and promised  _ Mom will check in when she can _ and it was fine. They’d been eating goldfish crackers and sitting at the kitchen table happy as anything, ready for craft time.

Except she’d  _ just  _ been helping Sonia in the bathroom with her butterfly wings when Wes had called  _ Stevie went for a walk. _

Um, what?

And yep, sure enough, the front door was unlocked (god only knew how he’d managed that) and Stephen was nowhere in sight and she was seriously about to murder him.

Quadruple crap.

Marlene was out of town, it was Roz’s day off and she supposed she could text April or Andy but, ugh, April would just boss her around and then make fun of her for being a nerd who was bad at babysitting or something and  _ no thank you.  _ She wished Ann still lived in Pawnee.

Actually, they should schedule a phone date soon. She should text her.

After Nat, you know, found her missing sibling. 

She called Shawn, because he lived close and it still startled her to hear how deep his voice had gotten over the summer. And he was huge too, already taller than her dad and Ron and not even fifteen yet.

“What happened?”

“I LOST STEPHEN!”

“Oh...shit. That’s not great.”

“HELP ME!”

“Ugh…” she could sense him rubbing his forehead. Seven years of friendship made it feel like phone conversations were happening face to face. “Shit, yeah okay, hang...I’m gonna...where would he go? Do you think I should check the park or something? Would he - ”

“YES!” It hit her so fast. Of course he would go to the park, he  _ loved _ the park almost as much as their mother and he’d be in front of the duck pond for an hour if he had anything to say about it. If he’d been tall enough he probably…

“Stebie taked da bwead.”

Nat flung a cupboard open just as Wes announced this, and yep, a whole loaf of bread was gone.

“Check the duck pond!” she shouted into the phone, white hot panic overwhelming her. Oh god, oh god, what if he fell in and couldn’t stand up or it was too deep and he drowned and oh god, oh god, she wanted to throw up. 

Shawn stayed on the line with her, panting as he sprinted down the street while she tried to wrangle Wes and Sonia to put on their shoes so they could all go look for Stephen together. It was the longest ten minutes of her life.  If anything had happened to him she’d -

“Got him,” Shawn finally exhaled just as she started to usher the other two out into the sunlight, Stephen’s giggles echoed through the line. “He was on your front lawn.”

“SHAWWWWNNNNNNNY! S’GO SEE DUCKIES!” 

_ He was on the front lawn?  _ Oh yeah, Nat was going to murder him.

When Shawn pushed through the front door a minute later, Stephen was covered in dirt, cackling with no shoes on and thrown over her best friend’s shoulder. Shawn set him down and Stephen ran to her.

“NATTY NATTY I GOED FOR A WALK!”

The tears came rapidly and Nat dropped to her knees, winding her arms around him and whimpering into his mess of hair.

“Stephen!” she swatted at his arm without much oomph. “You scared me to death! Don’t ever do that again! What if something had happened to you!”

Stephen’s eyes turned wide and he shook his head rapidly as he started to sob.

“Sowwy, sowwy, I sowwy Natty, I sowwy.”

“Sowwy Natty,” Wes jumped on her back from behind and Sonia flew into her side.

“Sowwy, Natty,” they all started to chant in unison. They did that sometimes, it was a triplet thing. Shawn ruffled her hair as the three of them surrounded her and peppered kisses all along her skin

“DON’T ANY OF YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!” 

“No, Natty, no cwyin, we sowwy,” Sonia kissed her cheek, like she was the one who had wronged her even when she’d done absolutely nothing of the sort.

“I was so worried about you,” she whispered to Stephen. “You’re my buddy, what if something had happened to you? What if a mean person had grabbed you  and taken you away or you fell in the pond or a car had hit you or  - ”

Okay, whoops, you probably shouldn’t say stuff like that to a three year old. Stephen started to wail and Nat did her best to console him. Shawn looked horrified, but helped her to her feet and pushed his nose into her hair gruffly. He was such a weirdo, but good in an emergency. She should remember that.

“He was fine, Nat, honestly, he was just sitting outside, playing in the grass.”

She leaned into him, fresh tears falling down her cheeks as Shawn’s arm wrapped around her and the triplets huddled into her legs.

“Do you want some help?”

“Yes, please.”

She was stubborn, but she wasn’t an idiot. 


	17. DC: Exes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another drabble for you from Ben's time in DC. I hope you enjoy it! It's a little bit longer and also features Mel.

“Natty, you were amazing,” Mel reached over and pushed Nat’s hair off her face affectionately. “Your serve was just...so awesome. I took a video of it so we can do some analysis later if you want, but you were so good.” 

“Thanks Mel,” Nat beamed and sipped her Ginger Ale. “Can we send it to Leslie?” 

“Oh, great idea,” Mel’s brown eyes darted up to check his face. “Is that…you don’t mind, right?”  

“No, no, I’m sure she’d love that,” he rubbed Nat’s neck. “You were amazing. Leslie’s going to be so proud of you.” 

Nat grinned even wider. “I wish everybody got to come, but I’m really glad you’re here, Mel.” 

“Thanks honey, I’m really glad I’m here too.” 

“Where’s Robert?” 

Mel reached for her wine and swirled her glass. “With his dad.” 

“Daniel?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Are you breaking up?” 

“We’re getting a divorce, yes,” again, her eyes flitted to Ben and he gave her a sympathetic little smile. If you’d asked him six months ago whether he ever imagined he’d be out to dinner with his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, he would’ve laughed in your face, but…

Honestly, fighting was exhausting and compromising together was much easier. And since leaving Daniel officially Mel had been nothing but respectful of any boundaries he put in place. 

“How’s...how’s the job, Ben?” Mel’s words were hesitant, understandably so, because so far all they’d talked about was Nat. 

“It’s uh...great, actually. Really great, busy and I hate that I have to be in DC to do it, but…” he chewed a bite of his chicken and gave a little shrug. Mel smiled and murmured she could imagine. 

“But it sounds like...your campaign is going well and you’re doing a great job, obviously,” she squared her shoulders. “As if that’s shocking somehow. I knew you’d be great at...whatever.” 

Ben blinked and sat back a little. “Uh...thanks.” 

“It’s...I’m happy for you.” 

His fingers curled around his wine glass and he gave a little smile back. “Thanks, Mel.” 

“Oh! I forgot, I found something when I...when we were cleaning up the place after he moved out,” she dug into her bag and scooted her chair around to his side of the table, pulling out a small black and white image. 

“Is that...” 

“This was when I was about six months, I…” 

Ben’s eyes instantly flooded with tears. 

“Oh my god.” 

“Right? I totally...I forgot I had it, I called the doctor’s office and they sent me more copies, so that’s yours to keep...it’s pretty insane, seeing that again.” 

“Y-yeah,” he swallowed the lump in his throat as he took in the six month old fetus, who was definitely his little peanut. “Wow. Thank...thank you...so much.” 

Mel’s answering smile was watery and she wrapped her hand around his forearm. “I thought...obviously you’d...you’d want all of these. If I find any more I’ll send them to you.” 

“Thanks,” he whispered, reaching over to Nat. “Look peanut, that’s you.” 

“Wow,” she didn’t sound as in awe as Ben was, but he leaned over and kissed her hair anyway. Mel shifted back to her place and stabbed at some asparagus. 

“I’d love some more pictures of you, Natty - ”

“He misses Leslie very much,” Nat interjected as she spun her noodles and squirmed. Ben’s eyes widened. 

“Mel brought us your sonogram of when you were in her tummy, don’t you want to see that?” 

“Thank you,” Nat’s nose crinkled as she studied the picture for a few long seconds. “So, Mel, are you seeing anybody right now?” 

He choked on his water and watched Mel’s cheeks tinge pink.  _ Good lord, _ no more movie nights with Ann Perkins. 

“Um, no honey, I’m getting divorced. It’s hard to want to meet anybody new when that’s happening.” 

“Uh huh, because Daddy’s dating Leslie.  _ FYI _ .” 

“Nat,” he murmured. “Mel’s just being nice.” 

“I know, I’m just explaining the situation.” 

Mel pushed her hair back again. “You guys must miss Leslie so much. I know she misses you.” 

Nat nodded solemnly. “It’s true. I miss her very much, even though I like DC and being with Daddy.” 

Ben smiled before going back to his food. It was kind of cute how protective she was of Leslie...of his and Leslie’s relationship. 

He understood it, and of course she didn’t need to be, but it was cute all the same. 

*****

“Daddy, I’m going to have to tell Leslie you kissed another woman.” 

He choked for the second instance that evening, only instead of water, the source was ice cream this time. 

“I...what?” 

“You kissed Mel.” 

Okay, not so cute anymore. He stopped and sighed. “Nat, we kissed on the cheek goodbye. She said thank you for dinner. It was a peck.”

“I know Daddy, but honesty is important and you were kissing your old girlfriend. Leslie never did that to Dave.”

Oh, good lord.  _ Definitely  _ no more sleepovers at Ann’s house. 

“Nat,” Ben knelt beside her. “I was just giving Mel a kiss on the cheek goodbye. I do that to Aunt Steph and Aunt Ellie and…” he rubbed her little hips. “It’s just to be polite.” 

“But she’s your old girlfriend - ”

“Nat, this isn’t something you need to concern yourself with, okay? I love Leslie and - "  


“Do you think she’ll be upset?” 

“ _ No _ ,” he hoped he sounded as incredulous as he felt. “She won’t care.” 

“Okay, phew,” Nat exhaled. “Because I don’t want you to break up.” 

“We’re not breaking up because of this, Nat. I promise."  


“Did you kiss Mel before like you kiss Leslie now?” 

Ben’s cheeks flamed. Crap, they (him and Leslie) seriously needed to stop getting caught making out. With so little time together over the last few months, they’d been more careless than ever and that...that was not great of them. He didn’t want Nat to ever feel uncomfortable. 

Although, frankly, Nat seemed more annoyed he’d brushed his lips over Mel’s cheekbone than when she’d stumbled upon him and Leslie caught up on the couch when she was supposed to be sleeping. 

“Honesty is important and we can tell Leslie, but she knows Mel’s here and she knows we had dinner and…” 

“I just don’t want you to break up again,” she cut in anxiously. Ben smiled and rubbed her side.

“Me either.” 

“Are you going to?” 

“I really don’t think so,” God, he couldn’t even stomach the thought of that, even though it seemed beyond the realm of possibility at this point. 

“Are you going to get married?”    


“I’d like to, yes,” he stole a bite of her chocolate ice cream and she squealed. 

“I’m telling Leslie you ate my dessert  _ too _ , and she’s so tickling you when she gets here, mister.” 

“Miiiister,” he smooched her. “Well, I’ll just tickle her back and I’m bigger.” 

“Welllllll, size isn’t everything and I’M GOING TO HELP HER!” 

“What?!” Ben clutched his chest dramatically. “But you’re myyyyy daughter.”

“I’m gonna heeeelp her,” she sing-songed. 

_ “Nooooooo _ ” Ben cried out and  fell onto the pavement, right there in his way too expensive suit. Nat cackled and leaned back on her heels while she pulled on his arm.

“Nooooo, Daddy, don’t die on me.” 

He popped upright, taking Nat with him as he jumped to his feet. 

“I just want us all to be back together," she murmured into his skin a few minutes later as they made their way back to the apartment. For a skype date with Leslie, of course. Ben smiled softly.  


"Soon, peanut." 


	18. DC: Sick Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt from rynapyna: the first time Nat gets mad at Leslie while Ben is in DC and Leslie calling Ben upset and not knowing what to do
> 
> This is sort of that. Comments and kudos are lovely! I hope you enjoy!

Her nose was red and raw from so much blowing, her eyes were watery and Leslie had been forced skip her City Council meeting to pick a sick Nat up from school because her sitter couldn’t get there early enough. 

So that...that was not great. Especially when they were planning on talking about a new bill and Leslie had a lot of feelings and idea binders about this new bill and what it would mean for… 

Not that it was Nat’s fault of course, there were just...better days to get sick. 

And Nat was not being her usual agreeable self either, so that wasn’t the most fun. 

“I want Daddy,” she pouted as Leslie hustled her out of the car and towards the front door. Her tummy was hurting and she definitely did not look like herself. She’d been a little sniffly that morning, but nothing like this. 

Honestly, Leslie was hoping she’d get a hold of Ann or April to come watch Nat until the sitter was available so she could go late to her meeting. She  _ really  _ needed to be at this meeting or Jamm and Milton would vote stupidly and blame it on her period or something. 

“Daddy’s at work in Washington, Nat, he’ll call you later, okay? I already texted him.” 

“But I want him now,” Nat whined. Leslie sighed and brushed her hair. 

“I’m sorry Nat, I can’t call him now. Let’s go put on PJs and I’ll make you some soup, okay?” 

Nat sighed and rubbed her nose into her sleeve. “Okay.” 

Leslie kissed her head and watched her trudge up the stairs just as her phone started to ring. 

_ April  _

“April, April Ludgate, you beautiful, amazing - ”

“Thank you, what do you want? I was busy making a blood oath with Frank, the custodian.” 

“I need you to babysit so I can make my City Council meeting.” 

“Ewwww, why? She hates me. What’s in it for me?” 

“She doesn’t hate you and...my endless love and affection.” 

“And pizza. Buy me a pizza.” 

“Fine, I’ll buy you a pizza.” 

“Uuuuggggh, fine, whatever, I’m not doing anything else I guess. I’ll be there in ten.” 

“Thaaank you, April, you are as kind as you are - ” the phone clicked. Leslie checked again and still no text from Ben acknowledging anything, but that was fine. It was all under control. April would show up, Nat would eat some soup and she would still make the vote. 

Oh, and the sitter, she better text Marta and tell her to come to the house instead of getting Nat from school. 

Nat came down in her comfiest PJs, with Wally, looking on the verge of tears. 

“I feel so yucky,” she whimpered. Leslie lifted her up and Nat wound around her. 

“I’m sorry, honey, what can I do?” 

“Just give me cuddles.” 

“That I can do,” Leslie settled on the couch and stroked her back. 

“I wish Daddy was here.” 

“I know you do, I’m sure Daddy wishes he was here too.” 

“I miss him so much,” she whimpered and sighed. Leslie wrapped her in a blanket and leaned back, rubbing Nat’s back soothingly until the doorbell rang. Nat - who was half asleep - shot up as soon as it did and frowned. 

“I had to get someone to come watch you so I could go to my meeting.” 

“But…” Nat’s nose crinkled. “But Daddy always works from home when I’m sick.” 

“I’m sorry Nat, this is a very important meeting for City Council.” 

“Oh,” she bit her lip. “Is it Marta?” 

“No,” Leslie got to her feet when the doorbell rang again. Nat followed her. 

“Is it Ann?”

“No, it’s - ”

“Yo,” April waved as soon as the door opened. “What’s wrong with her? Is it contagious? Should I put on a hazmat suit? She’s not going to need me to wipe anything is she?” 

“April, thank you soooooo much for doing this,” Leslie forced her into a hug and dragged her inside. Nat’s eyes went wide. 

“It’s April..” 

“Yeah, what up shrimp. I heard you’ve got gross stuff coming out of you - ”

“I don’t want April to babysit me,” Nat declared, lower lip quivering. “Leslie, Leslie, I want you to stay with me. I feel yucky, please stay with me. Please, please, please,” she tugged on her shirt. April raised an eyebrow. 

“I knew she hated me.” 

“You don’t hate April, you love April, right Nat?” 

“No, I do not, Leslie,” her voice broke. “Leslie please, I don’t want you to go. Please stay with me, I feel very yucky and I want you to stay... “ 

“Nat, I told you,” Leslie began, checking her watch again and willing herself not to be irritated. “It’s a very important meeting and I can’t…” 

The tears started to fall and Nat began to sob. 

“B-but D-Daddy al-always st-stays with m-me,” she tucked again. “Leslie, pl-please st-stay wi-with me, I fe-feel ve-very yucky,” she burrowed into Leslie’s leg and sobbed harder. Leslie sighed and dropped to her knees. 

“Nat, I can’t stay with you, I have to go to work and April’s going to watch you until Marta can get...”

Nat pushed her away, cheeks damp and glasses fogging as she stomped upstairs and her door slammed shut. Leslie blinked in disbelief. 

Nat had never done that, in as long as Leslie had known her. Nat had never stormed upstairs and slammed her door because she didn’t get her way. 

“It’s fine,” April gestured. “Go to your meeting, she’ll live.” 

“Please,” Leslie held her arms. “I know you have a very unique and creative sense of humor that you know  _ I  _ love, but - ”

“You owe me a pizza, still.” 

Leslie handed her twenty bucks on her way out the door. 

*****

When she got home from work that night Nat had, according to Marta, refused to make an appearance. 

Leslie had a feeling that had to do with the five missed calls from Ben. She thanked Marta, saw her out, and called him back. 

“Uhhhh, hi?” He sounded unimpressed already. “What’s going on there?” 

“Nat came home from school sick, they called me at lunchtime, and Marta couldn’t get here right away so April came to watch her while I went for my City Council meeting and she got upset with me.” 

“April makes her uncomfortable.” 

“April is a lovely, strong, amazing young woman and they just need to get to know each other - ”

“Maybe, but she’s sick and tired and you pawned her off on April and hoped it wouldn’t be a problem. You can’t force her to like someone she doesn’t like, and you certainly can’t...she’s a little girl and she’s sick, now’s not the time to put her in that kind of a situation.” 

“Well,” Leslie threw her hands up even though he couldn’t see her. “I’m sorry, but I had a meeting and I couldn’t sit around all day and April was the first person to call me back!” 

Okay, apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Ben growled on the other end of the line, and not in the sexy way. 

“So you pawned her off on April because your meeting was more important.” 

“It’s a CIty Council meeting Ben, I can’t just…not go.” 

“You could’ve called Howser, you could have done it from the phone, you could’ve at least  _ asked  _ if you could call in instead of treating an eight year old like she was an inconvenience and getting in the way…” 

“I did  _ not  _ do that,” Leslie retorted. “And I love her, you know I do, but my career can’t stop because she has a cold today!” 

There was dead silence on the other end of the line and Leslie suddenly felt sick. 

“That’s...that’s what parenting is, Leslie. She’s the priority, everything else is the inconvenience. Making sure she’s okay has to be the priority.” 

Leslie rubbed her forehead, unsure as to why her eyes were starting to sting. 

“Maybe this is too much,” Ben began softly. “Maybe I should come home.” 

“What! No, no no no, honey, no. I’m sorry, you’re right, I shouldn’t have...I had blinders on, I didn’t even try to rearrange things until I could get Ann here or…” 

“She didn’t want Ann, Leslie! This isn’t about April!” Ben snapped. “Look, I get it, I know this is hard. I know it sucks sometimes and I know it’s a pain in the ass to have to think about another person before you think about yourself. I get it, that’s not easy, especially when it’s not even your kid…” 

Okay, yeah, that definitely made Leslie’s eyes flood, because she thought of Nat as her kid in so many ways and she was supposed to be making Ben feel like she could handle this. 

“Ben - ”

“I’m,” she could sense him rubbing his forehead. “I just….I get it. You can’t always re-arrange a meeting, you can’t always find the perfect person to watch her and you can’t always sit on the couch and watch movies when she’s sick. I absolutely, totally get that, but you didn’t even try to make sure she was okay first.” 

Leslie slumped to the couch, head in her hand. 

“And she won’t always be, and yes, sometimes she’ll overreact, but you could’ve...I don’t know, done something except the bare minimum.” 

“You’re right,” she whispered. It was true, she’d literally spent as little time with Nat as she could manage and ran out the door the first chance she got. 

“She’s skyping me,” Ben sounded amused as he answered her call and Leslie stayed on the phone. She heard him softly greet Nat, she heard Nat’s voice sounding far away and a few seconds later Ben came back. 

“She wants to know if you’ll go upstairs and see her, she’d come down herself but her tummy hurts.” 

Okay yeah, Leslie was the worst. 

She hung up on the phone and made her way upstairs, where Nat told her to come in. She was on her side in bed, Ben’s face on the tablet in front of her. 

“Leslie, I’m sorry I was being a pain and got mad at you.” 

Leslie shook her head rapidly and sat on the bed. 

“No, no, I’m sorry. I should’ve sat with you as long as I could’ve or tried to change my meeting or...I’m sorry, I didn’t do a very good job today.” 

Nat started to cry and climbed on top of her in a tight hug. 

“It’s okay I just feel very bad and I don’t want anybody but you. I’m sorry I was being silly. I know your job is important.” 

“Not more important than you,” Leslie said it and watched Ben’s amused smile through the screen. She meant it. Work was important and she tended to get carried away, but nothing was more important than family and she knew that. 

She just had never had a family like this before. 

“I’m sorry, Nat.” 

“Daddy said there’s soup in the freezer.” 

“I’ll put it on for you and you can have some of that.” 

“And can we watch a movie?” 

“Absolutely.” 

“And can I go to school tomorrow?” 

Leslie felt her forehead - fuck, she hadn’t even felt her forehead yet, wasn’t that Mothering 101? - and kissed her flushed cheek. 

“We’ll see in the morning.” 

And maybe she had to take a personal day. 

Well, work from home. 

Because her baby was sick and needed her and that was that. 

Ben swore softly and Leslie caught him wiping his eyes. Leslie shifted them both so they were facing the camera. Ben was upset, of course. No matter how good or how bad of a job Leslie was doing, he wanted to be home with Nat right now. 

He swore again and pulled a face. 

“I have another...meeting.” 

Leslie saw it then, the real difference. Ben loved his job as much as she loved hers and he looked like he’d rather be anywhere than a meeting right now. He looked like if there was any possible situation where he could be there, cuddling Nat and making her soup he’d be making it happen. The meeting was the inconvenience. 

“I’ll…” 

“Call us back when you’re home and we can all watch a movie together in bed.” 

“Okay, okay,” he rubbed his forehead. “Nat, I gotta - ”

“I know Daddy, it’s okay. I love you.” 

“I love you, feel better and eat my soup.” 

“I will,” she blew a kiss to the monitor as it faded to black. 

“I hope I don’t get you sick too, Leslie,” Nat whispered, coughing into her arm. Leslie cuddled her close, pulling the blanket over them. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Leslie promised, kissing her sweaty forehead. Nat shuddered and sighed, her breathing evening out as she dozed off. Leslie texted Ben a picture of the two of them and waited for his response. 

_ Thanks, babe.  _


	19. The Runaway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a prompt from the lovely Nutriyum Addict! 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy! Comments and kudos are amazing!

She had never moved so quickly in her life. 

And that included that time in college she’d completely forgotten about an essay she had due and had to bolt to the library to finish it that evening. It was freshman year and she’d never forgotten about a homework assignment before.

She’d never forget about one again.

But tonight was different, tonight was a whole new level of panic.

Tonight she was startled by a very distinct ringtone on her phone at 11PM that she’d only heard a handful of times in the last several months.

She’d half-expected it to be Nat, eager to tell her about school and their plans for Thanksgiving, or sad because Ben was in love and having babies with Shauna Malwae-Tweep.

Or maybe Ben had finally told the truth about the custody hearing coming up and Nat couldn’t sleep.

Or maybe Ben was calling to snap at Leslie some more for letting Nat sit with her for five minutes while Ben and Shauna flirted in his office.

In any event, Leslie was not expecting to hear Ben’s trembling voice when she answered the call.

_ “Nat’s gone…”  _ he’d choked out, high and pitchy. He babbled for a few minutes, explaining he’d been in his room and she’d been fast asleep and then he came downstairs and the front door he definitely remembered locking was unlocked and she was gone.

Leslie was in sweatpants and didn’t even bother with a bra, pulling on a hoodie and running for the door. Ben grunted he was calling everyone and hung up with her as Leslie jumped in her car and sped down the street.

Where would she go, where would...maybe the park? Would she try and walk to JJ’s? Maybe she just wanted some midnight waffles - 

No, Nat was smart, she wouldn’t just wander outside in the dark without a good reason.

Oh god, what if someone had  _ kidnapped _ her, right under Ben’s nose... Should she call the police? The Chief would probably send a few officers out to help and they could cover more ground and...

Ann! She had to call Ann. Ann would come help. Ann, April, Andy, Ron - Ron could probably track her or something and Donna could drive around in her Benz and…

Leslie’s mind was going so quickly she drove right passed Natalie Wyatt. Nat was carrying her backpack, Wally the Walrus curled tightly in her arm, stepping tentatively in front of the entrance to Ramsett Park.

It was dark, creepy and cold and the streets were empty. Leslie screeched to a stop and parked askew along the curb. Nat’s eyes went wide as Leslie jumped out of the car and ran to her.

Leslie didn’t know what came over her, but she yanked on Nat’s arm and tugged her forward. She’d felt frantic, yes, but only now did she realize how terrified she’d been. Nat started to cry instantly as soon as Leslie barked  _ What were you thinking? _

Nat collapsed in a fit of sobs and apologized over and over again. Leslie found her phone and called Ben.

“I’ve got her. Ramsett Park.”

“L-Leslie you’re h-hurting me - ”

“Good!”

Nat started to cry even harder and Leslie dropped to her knees, anger turning to sickness.

“No no no no, not good, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You just scared me.” 

“I-I’m s-sorr-sorry, ju-just Da-ddy ye-yelled and I wa-was ve-very s-sad a-and I don’t kn-know where y-you live.”

“Come here, come here,” Leslie gathered her up and held her so tightly against her chest Nat started to whine again. Leslie loosened her grip slightly but swayed and murmured everything her mother would’ve said and Ben would probably repeat when he got there.

_ What were you thinking? _

_ You can’t just run out like that! _

_ What if something had happened to you? _

_ Do you have any idea how worried we were? _

We. She would’ve said we even though she had no right to.

“Are you okay?” Leslie kissed all over her face. Her cheeks were frozen and she was in a nightgown under her coat and boots.

“Y-yes. I-I was l-looking fo-for a taxi.”

Leslie cuddled her even closer.

“Is Daddy coming?”

“He’s on his way.”

“Oh.”

“Nat,” Leslie pushed her hair back. “Tell me what happened.”

“Daddy and Shauna were talking and then he said maybe I would like if she came over for movies some night and I got upset and then I wanted to see you but I don’t know where your house is.”

The lump formed instantly in Leslie’s throat. He was talking about dating Shauna? Actually? When was he...was he going to...oh god, oh god, oh god, she knew her relationship with Ben was...but she didn’t know….oh god.

She hugged Nat too tightly again, more for herself than anything.

*****

Ben arrived, more yelling happened, more hugs happened, and suddenly Leslie was following Ben to their house with Nat in her backseat.

She’d refused to go with Ben and he was obviously heartbroken but didn’t say anything.

Leslie carried her inside, taking in the familiar walkway and stone steps as she stepped through the threshold. She missed his house. She missed coming over, coming home to his house.

Leslie tried to hand her off, and when she did Nat’s arms tightened.

“Please, please, please,” Nat burrowed and Leslie’s heart, already broken, shattered into a few more thousand pieces.

“Nat, Leslie has to go home to her house,” Ben remarked, sounding tired and resigned. Leslie tried again and Nat whimpered.

“Daddy, please.”

Ben scrubbed his face and it occurred to Leslie for the first time she hadn’t looked him in the eye since he’d appeared.

“For a few minutes, Nat.”

A breathy exhale warmed the crook of Leslie’s neck.

*****

She didn’t stay for a few minutes.

She stayed all night.

Ben on one end of the couch, close to Leslie and Nat, who had sandwiched herself tightly into Leslie’s side and was snoring peacefully the instant they sat down. For some reason, neither of the adults turned off Enchanted and Leslie kept stroking Nat’s hair.

“She misses you,” Ben finally murmured around 2AM. The way his gaze slanted down and his mouth twisted made Leslie’s chest feel tight.

“I miss you. Both of you.”

“I…” Ben sighed, gesturing between them. “I don’t know how to do this. She wants to be around you and I am finding it very hard to even work in the same building as you.”

Her hand shifted out and their fingers curled around each other’s.

“We’ll...we have to figure this out.”

“Yes.”

"Not tonight, though," he squeezed her hand gently. She didn’t bother to stop the tears falling down her cheeks. She was too tired, too emotionally drained to care. Ben cleared his throat.

Leslie wanted to ask if they were sure they were doing the right thing, being apart for her campaign.

But she had a feeling neither of them would have an answer for that.


	20. Her 12th Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for a prompt I received on tumblr. Comments and kudos are amazing. Enjoy!

**The Morning**

Ben grinned and adjusted his tablet, taking video of the increasingly mobile triplet monsters (plus Leslie) tiptoeing into their big sister’s bedroom and pulling themselves onto the bed. Westley crawled forward and stumbled, so Stephen catapulted over him and went crashing into Nat’s stomach. She groaned. 

“Steeeepheeen,” she flailed and tugged on his hair gently. He squealed and rolled off of her as Wes pushed upright and stroked her forehead. 

“Hi Nabby.” 

“BIRDAY!” Stephen shouted. 

“Habby birfday!” Sonia leaned forward and peppered kisses all over Nat’s face, just like Leslie did to all of them. Nat’s eyes peeled open and Stephen handed over her glasses. 

“Thanks guys,” stretched out her arms and they all piled on top of her, little faces pushing into her skin. Nat grinned as Leslie kissed her temple. 

“Happy Birthday.” 

“Thanks, Mom - Daaaaaad, stop videotaping. I just woke uuuuuup.” 

And she was still totally cute and he would videotape this adorable family moment as much as he wanted. 

“Pawwwwty,” Stephen wiggled excitedly. Nat had been talking about the party for a week and Stephen still thought he was invited, no matter what Ben told them about playing upstairs while Nat was with her friends. 

“Waffles first though, birthday waffles, right?” 

Leslie beamed with pride and Ben stopped recording to lift the triplets off their sister amidst more squeals and giggles. 

Ben reached down just as Nat sat up and into his arms, like she’d been waiting for it. He hugged her tightly and pressed his lips to her temple. 

“Happy birthday, peanut.” 

“Thanks, Dad.” 

*****

**The Afternoon**

“Where are the triplets?” Ann Perkins asked all the way from Michigan as they slowly supervised Nat putting in her contacts for the first time. She was trying to distract Leslie, but the question went unanswered. Ann kept telling her to relax, and twice Leslie got shushed for suggesting maybe twelve was too young for contacts. 

“The optometrist said thirteen.” 

“They said _most kids_  wait until thirteen, but Nat’s responsible and going to take care of them and won’t wear them all the time, anyway.” 

“Yeah, Mom, they’re just for once in a while.” 

Leslie sighed as she finally slipped the second one into place, swiping quickly at the tears sliding down her cheeks. 

“Good?” Ann checked. Nat blinked a few more times and nodded. “Okay, step back so I can see.” 

Nat moved towards the other wall and Leslie smiled as Ann squawked. 

“Oh my god, you look great!” 

She looked _so grown up_. Her floral dress was age appropriate, with cute little cap sleeves and a simple neckline, but without her glasses she was a little woman. 

“Mom,” Nat called her, but Leslie didn’t answer, stunned to silence. Nat sighed. “Mooooom, don’t be like that. It’s just a dress and a party and I’ll probably change into jeans and play soccer or something after cake.” 

Leslie ignored her, setting Ann down on the counter to wrap her baby up in a hug until she protested to be released. Nat was tearing up again and quickly dabbed her eyes. 

“Nat - ”

“I’ll take them out if they start to hurt; I’m just getting used to them.” 

Leslie sighed and nodded. Too big too fast, like all her babies. 

***** 

**The Evening**

“You look weird without glasses,” Shawn declared as Nat piled a stack of paper plates on top of another one. The party was over, it was just after 10PM and he should’ve left an hour ago to walk home before it got too dark…but they’d been talking and looking at her gifts and then he’d started playing an app on her phone and almost beat the game, so they’d been pretty invested in that. 

Her dad would offer to drive him anyway and then probably try and get them into REM in the car, which Shawn would claim he liked a lot. 

“Um, okay,” Nat shot him an unimpressed look and Shawn shrugged his shoulders. His voice had deepened quite a bit, but it still got weirdly pitchy on occasion and his chin was littered with new pimples. Shawn grabbed her by the wrist and yanked the plates out of her hand. 

“You shouldn’t be cleaning, it’s your birthday.” 

“I’m helping.” 

“I’ll do it, go sit down.” 

“I don’t want to - ”

“Go sit down. That’s an order.” 

Nat rolled her eyes and flicked some water at his face. 

“Make. Me.” 

She cackled when he hoisted her up and tickled her sides until she couldn’t breathe. She was doing her best to retaliate using her arms and legs when Shawn suddenly dropped her on the couch and took a large step back, cheeks flaming. 

“What was that for?” Nat panted. 

“Uh…um…you…you are in a dress.” 

She stared down and frowned. “Yes…are you just noticing now?” 

His cheeks went even redder and he rubbed his forehead. “You…we can’t mess around when you’re in a dress.” 

It was Nat’s turn to blush. 

“Oh.” 

“Sorry - ”

“Sorry!” 

She smiled weakly. “That was weird. Don’t tell me what you saw, I don’t want to know - ”

“I wasn’t gonna!” 

She lowered her eyes to the ground. “Do you want me to get my dad to drive you home?” 

“No, sorry, I’m sorry. I was being weird. Let me take these plates up and…you wanna watch a movie or something? Eat the rest of your cake?” 

“If my parents didn’t finish it off already.” 

Shawn smiled, not nervously this time. 

“Let’s do it,” he pulled her to her feet, winding an arm around her shoulder and pushing his nose into her hair. “Happy birthday, again.” 

She tightened her arms around his waist and sighed contently. It didn’t have to get weird, right? Just because she was almost a teenager and Shawn already was one? 

She better ask her mom. 

“Did you have a good day?” 

Nat thought all the way back to her cuddles and kisses-filled wake up call. 

“The best day,” she smiled. 


End file.
